On the morning of November 12, 1941, mob informant Abe “Kid Twist” Reles was found dead outside the sixth-floor window of his guarded hotel room at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island, Brooklyn. He had been scheduled to testify that very day against one of the most feared and politically connected gangsters in America—Albert Anastasia, the so-called “Lord High Executioner” of Murder, Inc.
The official report claimed Reles died trying to escape. But few believed the story. Instead, Reles’s death became one of the most suspicious and symbolic murders in American mafia history—a message written in blood that no one could betray the mob and survive, not even under police protection.
Who Was Abe Reles?
Abe Reles, nicknamed “Kid Twist” (after an earlier gangster of the same name), was born in Brooklyn in 1906. Raised in poverty and drawn to street gangs, Reles quickly became immersed in the Jewish-American underworld, running with a tough crew in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.
He was small in stature but ruthless in action. By the 1930s, Reles had become a top enforcer and hitman for Murder, Inc., the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicate—essentially the Mafia’s outsourced assassination squad. This covert organization carried out hundreds of contract killings for the Italian and Jewish mobs across the country.
Reles personally participated in or oversaw dozens of murders, and his name inspired terror on the streets of New York. He was particularly known for his favored method of execution—an ice pick to the ear.
Murder, Inc.: America’s Deadliest Secret
Murder, Inc. was a national hit squad, created in the 1930s under orders from mob bosses like Louis “Lepke” Buchalter and Albert Anastasia. Composed mostly of Jewish and Italian gangsters from Brooklyn, the group was responsible for eliminating threats to the Syndicate, including witnesses, informants, rival gangsters, and anyone who refused to play by the rules.
Between 1930 and 1940, the group is estimated to have carried out 400 to 1,000 contract killings—most of which were never solved. Law enforcement didn’t even know the organization existed until insiders began to talk.
Abe Reles was the first major informant to flip.
Turning Informant: The Canary Sings
In 1940, Reles was arrested for a series of murders. Facing the death penalty and feeling the heat from his own organization, he cut a deal with Brooklyn District Attorney William O’Dwyer. Reles agreed to become a star witness, providing detailed, firsthand accounts of murder contracts, names, locations, methods, and connections across the Mafia hierarchy.
His testimony led to multiple convictions, including the execution of Louis Lepke, the only high-ranking mob boss ever sent to the electric chair. He also helped bring down Harry “Pittsburgh Phil” Strauss, Emanuel “Mendy” Weiss, and other feared Murder, Inc. assassins.
Reles’s nickname evolved from “Kid Twist” to “The Canary Who Could Sing”—and the mob was desperate to make sure he wouldn’t sing much longer.
The Target: Albert Anastasia
At the time of his death, Reles was preparing to testify against Albert Anastasia, one of the highest-ranking figures in organized crime. Anastasia was the underboss of the Mangano crime family (later the Gambino family), and a co-founder of Murder, Inc.
Reles claimed that Anastasia had personally ordered at least five murders, including that of journalist and anti-mafia crusader Ferdinand Boccia. If convicted, Anastasia could face the death penalty.
But Anastasia was powerful—connected to politicians, judges, police, and corrupt labor unions. A conviction would not only bring him down, it could unravel the entire syndicate.
Reles’s testimony was the only thing standing in the way.
November 12, 1941: The Fall from the Window
To ensure his safety before testifying, Reles was placed under 24-hour police guard at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island. He was locked in Room 623, watched around the clock by six NYPD detectives. On the morning he was scheduled to appear in court, Reles was found dead—his body sprawled on the roof of a hotel extension five stories below.
The official cause of death? Accidental fall while trying to escape. Authorities claimed he had tied several bedsheets together and attempted to rappel down the building to freedom.
But the theory never made sense:
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Reles was facing a reduced sentence and full protection; he had no reason to flee.
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The bedsheets were not long enough to reach the window ledge, let alone the ground.
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There were no bruises or rope burns on his hands—suggesting he never actually climbed.
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His body landed in a straight drop, inconsistent with the motion of someone rappelling.
Most observers—then and now—believe he was thrown or pushed from the window.
Who Killed Abe Reles?
The murder of Abe Reles was a hit carried out within a fortress of law enforcement. If it was orchestrated, it required police complicity—or, at the very least, the willful blindness of the officers assigned to protect him.
Rumors swirled that a $100,000 bounty had been placed on Reles’s head—an enormous sum during the Depression. The phrase “he could sing, but he couldn’t fly” was mockingly repeated in mob circles afterward.
No one was ever charged in his death. None of the detectives on duty were punished. The case remains unsolved, buried under a century of silence, fear, and omertà.
The Fallout: A Crumbling Case and a Rising Mob
With Reles dead, the case against Albert Anastasia collapsed. The charges were dropped. Anastasia continued to rise in power and eventually took control of the Mangano family in 1951, transforming it into what would become the Gambino crime family, one of the Five Families of the New York Mafia.
Reles’s murder sent a clear message to all future informants: even the state couldn’t protect you from the mob. It emboldened organized crime and exposed the deep roots of corruption in New York law enforcement and politics.
District Attorney William O’Dwyer, who had relied on Reles for convictions, eventually became Mayor of New York City, a position some believe he attained through a delicate balancing act between law, politics, and underworld cooperation.
Legacy: The Most Symbolic Mob Hit in History
The murder of Abe Reles wasn’t just the silencing of a witness—it was a turning point in the fight against organized crime. It revealed how far the Mafia’s influence extended and how fragile the justice system could be when power and money were at stake.
Reles’s story lives on in mob lore, true crime books, and film adaptations. His life and death have inspired characters in movies like The Valachi Papers and Mobsters, and references in shows like Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos.
Conclusion: Justice That Fell from a Window
The 1941 death of Abe Reles is still shrouded in mystery, deceit, and denial. Whether pushed by corrupt cops or mob enforcers in disguise, Reles’s fall was a murder disguised as an accident, and a symbol of the mafia’s deadly reach—a reach that could extend even into a locked room, six stories up, under full police protection.
His death silenced the last witness against the “Lord High Executioner,” and in doing so, protected a criminal empire that would flourish for decades. It was a brutal reminder that, in the world of organized crime, even a canary that sings is never safe—and sometimes, it flies out a window it never opened.